On February 22nd, 2014, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets all around the world to protest the situation in their beloved country.
I took to my streets (in Boston) to ask protestors what they are asking for. Listen to the full interviews on the podcast, as well as see images from the event on youtube.com/inantshellpod

Check out the song I wrote for my husband for Valentine’s Day (co-writer Marieke Slovin, storytosong.wordpress.com). Four couples share their “how we met” stories and impart a bit of wisdom to all those of you out there looking for love. This also includes some advice on making online dating work for you for REAL (rebroadcast from 2013).

My good friend Adam sits down with me again this year to explain football to me (the man is a saint). We talk all things Super Bowl with a single purpose: to answer the question “Why should I care?” — Great conversation for the non-sporty type who just wants to know what’s going on.

Marieke Slovin is an artist/musician who started this venture to bring music to people via their own stories. I won’t lie, I cried 80% of the time during this taping. Making music, especially when it’s based on your own story, is such an emotional process where you become completely vulnerable. If this doesn’t make you listen, how about this: I manage to embarrass myself by singing without a preset melody. Quite the journey, and I recommend it to anyone!

Michael Luby, Founder of AeroShip.it talks to us about his business idea. It’s so simple, it will make you wonder why nobody has ever thought of this before! This 25-year-old knows what he’s doing, and he’s making it happen one grant at a time.

Chief Operating Officer, Debbie Kenny, talks to us about the great company Meetcaregivers.com. Learn more about Debbie’s background and career track, as well as this game-changing business that will revolutionize the way caregivers are selected by people like you and me.

The Merrimack Valley Sandbox is a great program for new entrepreneurs at early stages of development to get the opportunity to grow their idea, and compete for a final cash prize! Lianna Kushi talks to me about the program.

Christine shares her birth story with us for the third and final installment of the birth series at Ina Nutshell Pod (see episodes 31, 32 and 33 for the trilogy). Also, we get to talking about common mommy questions: should I go back to work full-time? part-time? We put a thermometer under our feminist tongues and gauge the temperature (was that a good analogy?).

How does the woman’s body work? Did you know that there is only a 25% chance of becoming pregnant in the span of a month? Why is this? How can you make sure your “attempts” are targeted at the right time? Can you use the same fertility concepts to create a completely natural contraceptive method? All questions are answered here.

My arms feel heavy and my legs and face feel numb. Did I mention I only had ONE drink? I had a dirty martini (gin, not vodka) with 3 olives. As my friend talked about how he met his wife (story I had not heard to-date), I started to feel my attention span deteriorate. I found myself joyfully singing along to the song that was currently playing (country station; super awesome), and I sensed myself starting to fade. I changed the topic… often. I brought up card counting, a study which determined that babies after 5yrs old are no longer cute, and maybe some other weird things. My friend seemed to enjoy this other side of me (the drunken-thoughts bizarro ina doesn’t get out much).

My friend Adam stops by the podcast to get me to care about this year’s Super Bowl. The result was a crazy funny conversation where I finally got to learn who Tim Tebow is, what’s up with Manti Te’o’s fake dead girlfriend, and the nifty fact that the coaches going head-to-head on this year’s Super Bowl are BROTHERS! If you are being forced to be in the same room as people watching the game next Sunday, this conversation is for you.

I got to take a little trip to Washington DC with my little dude. He’s 16 months old now, and he’s just an awesome date. I can take him ANYWHERE. He had the best time at Lincoln Memorial walking around, and he came THIS CLOSE to jumping into the reflecting pool.

I had the great fortune of catching up with Massachusetts’ own Mark Chester, professional photographer. We talked about his latest project: capturing Boston’s diversity through photographs (project in which I got to represent Venezuela), his beginnings and travels.

My good friend Kirk Jones, Information Security professional, stops by to talk about botched Christmas tree cutting trips and how to be so charming people will pretty much do whatever you want them to… including writing songs for you. (Surprise song enclosed). It’s Christmas at the Pod! Enjoy!

Cheryl Hajjar, co-author and songwriter of The Paci Pixie, stops by to talk about her latest project. This book is so sweet, it will make your baby WANT to give up their pacifier so that other babies can use it when they need it most. Magic really works.

I take my family out on a long journey to Littleton, MA, to do my very first podcast on the road at Won Mee’s house (see Episode 8). Funny as always, this conversation is one for the top episodes list. Cameos by my husband, Won Mee’s husband, and even my 1-year-old!

June Lee stopped by my basement to chat about her beautiful handmade greeting cards… but instead we got to share our perspectives as international students of the US education system, and even revealed a couple of embarrassing things about myself.

Chef Ginzu (Drew Novack, GinzuCreativeCooking.com) takes a moment off his busy sushi teaching schedule to teach us a thing or two about what it takes to cook… REALLY cook! Just in time for Thanksgiving!

The beautiful and talented Lynne Hajjar joins me to talk ALL about nutrition and exercise. She helps me dispel myths about calories, stretching before working out, and going to bed with a full stomach. She also gives a couple of tips on how to make just 5 minutes of exercise REALLY count! You can contact Lynne at LeanWithLynne[AT]gmail[DOT]com

Two Massachusetts residents, one native (from Melrose) and one immigrant (from Venezuela, yours truly), discuss why Massachusetts hates Romney. We discuss the famous “undecided voter,” Romney’s unchallenged stance on immigration, and whether universal healthcare is really the right way to go. Also discuss the senate race, and John Kerri’s aspirations for Secretary of State.

Tonight I decided to do something a little different. I have been dreaming about performing a comedy stand-up routine for years now, and I always found myself too busy or not ready to do it. This week I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with. As soon as I made the decision I came up with what would probably constitute 15 minutes worth of material. It just came rushing to me.

On this episode I sit with Christine to discuss some issues on the ongoing presidential and senatorial race. Differences between the presidential candidates, and between the Massachusetts senatorial candidates. We get into controversial issues including the Catholic perspective on contraception and their role in healthcare, the bank bailout, the wealth gap, gas prices, etc. Part 2 of 2.

Christine stops by my Norwood basement to talk about her latest Glee obsession, the bed bug infestation at her apartment, and how she managed to quit all social media for two whole weeks! This is Part 1 of 2.